Staying True to My Heart
by Yumi-chan-Hamano
Summary: Shinoa likes Mitsuba, but she wants to know if her feelings are requited. One mistake leads to another before someone starts putting the pieces together to this love puzzle.


I feel like we need more love for this ship and this just happened :P I hope you enjoy~

* * *

Shinoa knew Mitsuba for a long time, since childhood actually. They became friends fast. Despite being in different grades, they stayed good friends. Oddly enough, Shinoa finds herself making friends with people older than her rather than the same age. But it was probably because she had been surrounded by people older than her all her life.

Due to the influence of her older sister, Mahiru, and her group of friends, she managed to skip a grade. A lot of people spread rumors that she was able to since she was a Hiragi. But her grades proved more than enough that she worked hard to be where she is.

Despite all this judgement from her peers, she had good friends. Their little group was an odd arrangement but they fit together. There were a lot of times where they questioned how they even put up with each other enough to stay friends. But in the end of the day, they cared enough to stick up for each other, even if Yuu and Kimizuki didn't get along.

They often did study sessions together, but since Mitsuba lived next door, Shinoa always asked the blonde to come over so they could work together.

"Mitsu-chan," Shinoa called out as she could feel that she needed a break before going back to work on her assignment. "Do you like anyone?"

Mitsuba paused her writing but she didn't look up from her notes. She asked cautiously, "Why?"

"I just want to know if anyone had captured the heart of our cute Mitsu-chan," Shinoa answered. But in reality, Shinoa realized her feelings for the blonde and wanted to know if she had a chance.

Mitsuba didn't say anything, but the blush on her face answered the question for her.

"Who is it?" Shinoa asked as she leaned in closer to her crush. The blush on the blonde grew as she averted her gaze.

"None of your business," Mitsuba stated and tried to go back to studying. But Shinoa wasn't ready to give up. She placed her hand on Mitsuba's notebook and looked at the blonde with her sly smile.

"Who is the lucky person?" Shinoa asked.

"I-It's…" Mitsuba stuttered. "Y-Yuu. I-I like Yuu, okay? Now leave me alone."

Shinoa could feel her heart shatter at the reveal. She tried to prepare herself, but it did nothing when the name was spilled from her beloved's lips. She was hoping that there wasn't anyone, but the blush on her face indicated that it was not simple.

~ Staying True to My Heart ~

"Shinoa, why are we here?" Yuu asked after being dragged out of their class, unable to eat his lunch in the cafeteria with his friends.

"Look cherry boy," Yuu rolled his eyes at the mention of the nickname, "Mitsu-chan likes you. So-"

"Wait wait wait," Yuu interrupted, "Who likes who?"

"Mitsu-chan. Likes. You." Shinoa had to stress every word in three word sentence to get it through his thick skull.

"But I thought-"

"Another word and I'll take away your most treasured possession," Shinoa threatened and Yuu clamped his hands over his mouth. "Good. You're going on a date with her this Sunday. I'm going to invite her to try out the new café at the mall and something is going to come up for me so it's just going to be the two of you. What happens after is up to you and this better be the best date Mitsu-chan has ever been on or you'll regret ever being born."

"But-"

"Oh, another thing," Shinoa interrupted, effectively shutting Yuu up. "If you refuse or tell anyone about my plans, I will kill you slowly and painfully."

Yuu never said another word as they walked back to the cafeteria to meet up with their friends. Shinoa acted like nothing happened, but everyone could see how scared and pale looking Yuu was. No one dared to ask in Shinoa's presence though.

~ Staying True to My Heart ~

Yuu waited at the entrance of the mall for a good two minutes. He was already running late as it was, so he's not surprised if Mitsuba left without him. He was just worried about what Shinoa had planned for him for failing already.

"Yuu!" He turned at the familiar voice calling out his name.

"Hey!" Yuu greeted. "Um, you look great."

"Thanks," Mitsuba said and tugged her skirt a little. "Where's Shinoa?"

"Oh, um, about that. Something came up so she can't make it," Yuu said and swore he noticed something off about the blonde, "Do you-"

"Let's go eat," Mitsuba announced and walked into the mall. Yuu silently followed, his question left unasked.

Shinoa watched the exchange from a distance. She silently cheered that her part one of her plan was successful. Now, everything was up to Yuu. She'd kill him if he were to hurt Mitsuba in anyway.

After a good five minutes, she entered the mall and went to the café but made sure to stay hidden from the couple. They were talking to each other, so that was a good sign. But Mitsuba looked a little unhappy, which means she needs have a little talk with Yuu afterwards.

After they finished eating, they left the restaurant and Shinoa followed shortly behind. Because of how busy and noisy it was in the mall, it had been hard for her to hear what the two of them were saying. But it didn't matter, she could see that Yuu was actually trying to make the date work. However, it was concerning that Mitsuba didn't seem as interested as Shinoa hoped. Perhaps Yuu was boring when it comes to dates.

They went to the movies after. Shinoa was not surprised to find that they were watching a comedy.

Shinoa really enjoyed the movie even though she had no intentions of watching it before. Yuu was also probably enjoying it by how loud he talked about the funny parts of the movie. He stopped after a while since Mitsuba didn't seem to share the same enjoyment.

Shinoa wondered what the new couple was going to do next when she spotted Mika walking toward the couple. With her quick reaction time, she walked over to Mika before he reached the couple that was walking by.

"Oh hi, Shinoa," Mika greeted then looked quizzically at Shinoa's arms wrapped around his.

"Oops sorry," Shinoa said and let go, "What are you doing here on a Sunday?"

"I could say the same about you. But I'm here on an errand. We ran out of hand soap at my house," Mika said.

"Oh, were you on your way to do that?" Shinoa asked and Mika nodded, "Then don't let me get in the way of that."

"Then why did you stop me?" Mika asked and Shinoa smiled impishly.

"No reason," Shinoa said and walked away.

~ Staying True to My Heart ~

"Is something the matter Yuu?" Mitsuba asked as Yuu was texting on his phone.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. Just texting Mika about something," Yuu replied and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "But I do have a question for you."

"You want to ask me why we're still hanging out even though Shinoa ditched us when it was her idea?"

"Er, not quite what I had in mind, but now I'm curious."

"There's nothing wrong with hanging out as friends," Mitsuba answered with a shrug.

"Right, friends. So, how do you feel about Shinoa?"

~ Staying True to My Heart ~

After Shinoa caught up with the couple, she found them shopping at a stationary shop. It was a little surprising that Yuu had an eye for these things since he picked some pretty cute pens.

Mitsuba also looked a whole lot happier than she was before. Something good must have happened in the time in between when she was not watching them. She felt a pang of jealousy when Mitsuba smiled at Yuu over some stationary. It was stupid since the one that the blonde liked was Yuu and not her. Yuu also looked a lot less awkward, probably enjoying his date with Mitsuba as well.

She was happy for Mitsuba though. Being with the one you love is what everyone dreamed about, and now Mitsuba was able to.

As the new couple walked home from the train ride, Shinoa kept chanting quietly "hold hands, hold hands". There were a few occasions where their hands brushed against each other, but there was no effort to hold hands.

Shinoa almost let out a squeak of surprise when they stopped. She didn't realize that they arrived as she was caught under the street lamp.

"Shinoa," Yuu greeted with a grin. "Getting home so late?"

"Yeah," Shinoa said shakily. She realized she could play it off as she just came home as a coincidence. "Sorry for not showing up today. I could almost taste that café food."

She did eat when they were in there so she didn't look like she was loitering in the restaurant. But she wished that she was with Mitsuba instead of alone while watching the blonde being on a date with Yuu.

Shinoa watched in confusion as Yuu approached her. He patted her on the shoulder and smiled before leaving. She turned to see Yuu's silhouette disappear in the dark areas between streetlights. Shinoa turned back around and was pleasantly surprised to see Mitsuba shuffling towards her. Under the light of street lamp, she could make out the nice red shade that coloured Mitsuba's cheeks.

"This is for you," Mitsuba said and held out a plastic bag, the same one from the stationary shop. Shinoa was caught off guard as she started at the yellow material. She held out her hand slowly and Mitsuba slipped the bag into her hands.

Shinoa continued to stare at it as she recalled the memory of Yuu and Mitsuba smiling at each other in the shop.

"Are you sure?" Shinoa said, not prepared to open the bag to examine what was inside.

"Yeah," Mitsuba said shyly. "So like, we're you trying to set up me and Yuu because of what I said?"

"Ummmm…"

"Yuu told me about it. I asked him," Mitsuba added when she noticed the dark look on Shinoa's face. "He told me how you threatened him to do this, and while I appreciate your effort, there's no need for you to go through all that for me."

"But I-"

"Because the one I like is you," Mitsuba said and both girls blushed. "I like you, Shinoa. I-I lied about liking Yuu because it was too embarrassing to admit when your crush asks you who you like."

"Oh…" Shinoa said and silence filled the space between them. She looked down at the bag of stuff that Mitsuba had chosen for her. "Wait a minute, why did you ask Yuu?"

"Well, it was like this. Yuu asked me if I liked you and I said yes so he explained he explained the plan you made. Also Mika texted him that you were stalking us since Yuu wanted someone else there so it was less awkward," Mitsuba explained.

"So that _was_ planned," Shinoa muttered under her breath.

"But Yuu told me that there was a high chance that you like me back and asked me to take a chance," Mitsuba said. Shinoa smiled at Mitsuba's flustered face and leaned forward to plant a kiss on the blonde's cheek before walking to her house.

"Good night Mitsu-chan," Shinoa called out when he reached her front porch.

"G-Good night."

Shinoa greeted her sister that was watching television in the living room. Dinner wasn't prepared yet so she went upstairs to her room. Shinoa emptied the shopping bag of its contents and it was all stationary with the word 'love' on it or hearts on it. The gesture was really cute and Shinoa looked fondly at the stuff.

Shinoa reached for her phone in her bag and sent a text to Mitsuba.

"Thank you, Mitsu-chan 333"


End file.
